The objectives in this lesson is to enhance perceptual ability and perceptual awareness of blind and visually impaired person by informing and training use of Microsoft windows platform for communication, independence, employment, Education, and Fun ...
This Microsoft operating system lesson has designed to be at your own convenient time, place, and pace; therefore, develop your own workable strategy by planning, organizing, directing, controlling and evaluating your learning process to insure your objectives have met.
In addition, this Microsoft Windows Platform learning module has introduced and defined basic windows terminologies and concepts. Therefore, familiarize yourself with these e-mail basics. Read the page contents carefully and then click on your chosen topic. After you have learned that desired module, press alt + left-arrow to go back to the table of content, or continue to learn by pressing down arrow. These instructions works with PCS, Win 7, and JAWS 15 or above. However, it is up to you what type of assistive technology or operating system you should use.
In this training, Job Access with Speech (JAWS 15/16/17/18) are used; JAWS version 15 or above works well with 8.1, 8.0, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP; however, JAWS version 17/18 also work with Windows 10. Magic has also similar or the same commands with JAWS. You may use your choice of screen reader as assistive tool; however, if you are using other screen reader rather than JAWS, you cannot use these JAWS keystrokes to perform a task. Now let me familiarize you by practicing the following windows keyboard shortcut commands!
Get help = F1, (Press F1 then press alt+F4 to close the open window.)
Open the Start Menu = WINDOWS LOGO KEY or CTRL+ESC, (Press the windows logo key then escape key to close the window.)
Switch between Open Applications = ALT+TAB, (Press alt+tab key and you would cycle from one open window to the next.)
Right click or open the shortcut menu = APPLICATIONS KEY or SHIFT+F10, (Press the application key then press the escape key to close the open window.)
Minimize all Applications = WINDOWS LOGO KEY+M, (Press windows key +M, all applications would be minimized. )
Open Windows Explorer = WINDOWS LOGO KEY + E, (Press alt+f4 to close the open window.)
Open Run Dialog = WINDOWS LOGO KEY+R, (Press window key + R and alt + F4 to close the window.)
Press JAWS key + num pad 8 to read a line at any time Or Press JAWS key + up arrow to read a line.
Press JAWS key + T to read the active window title or Press JAWS key + T to read the application title
Press JAWS key + num pad 5 to read a word or Press JAWS key + num pad 5 twice quickly to spell-out the word
Press JAWS key + num pad 6 or Press CTRL + Right-arrow to to read word by word forward.
Press JAWS key + num pad 4 or Press CTRL + Left-arrow to read word by word backward.
Press num pad 6 or Press right arrow to read character by character forward.
Press num pad 4 or Press Left arrow to read character by character backward.
The Windows Platform appears similar and in many of them have the following components:
Booting or booting up is the initial set of operations that a computer system performs after electrical power turned on. When the computer power button is pressed or reset, the electrical power to the CPU is switched on. The process when a computer is turned on until the computer gets ready to perform its operations is called booting up the computer. On modern general-purpose computers, this takes many seconds depend the processor speed and performs a power-on self-test, locating and initializing hardware such as drives, ports, peripheral devices, and then finding, loading and starting an operating system. Many computer systems also allow these operations to be initiated by a program command without cycling power; and this is called a soft reboot. During soft reboot some of the initial operations might be skipped. After completion of self-tests, it loads the main operating system or runtime environment for the computer. Therefore, during the computer booting up, blind people do not have an access of what is going on within a computer; as a result, people with vision loss depends on other people to read for them in order to learn what is that error message in that computer screen.
The desktop is a graphical representation of workspace in a computer; it can be customized to fit individual needs. In office, at work, or at home, we have seen a desk. Most likely, there are folders that have files stored inside them.
Windows is just the same, except it is electronic. The first screen that presented with after turning on a computer is typically the Windows desktop. The desktop has icons, toolbars, and menus to manipulate files; it can be customized with sounds, images, and colors to provide a personalized feel. Stored inside the desktop are the tools that help get work accomplished. Inside the Windows desktop, there are software applications, which are computer programs that enable to perform tasks. There are folders, which contain files, or work completed or that is in progress.
The desktop is the parent of all windows. The applications or files windows are as descendent, or child windows that are contained within the desktop parent window. The inicial face of the desktop is consist of the following interfaces; and they are:
Boot up the computer or turn on the electrical power and pay attention to the booting process time.
Press the tab key five times. It is moving from one component of the Windows desktop to another. When you press the tab key, always press the read title command which is JAWS key + t and it would read the title bar for you.
Press five times shift + tab keys to move backwards. Have you notice, the desktop is organized in a cyclical manner. However if you press the TAB key and the cursor does not move around the desktop, press Windows Key + M to minimize all applications and return to the desktop list view. From the desktop, you can move forward by pressing the tab key or move backward by pressing shift + tab key.
The desktop list view contains a list of icons or shortcuts from which you can launch applications. In this list, you can access folders and/or files that you specify to be saved on the Windows desktop. To navigate the Windows desktop, you need to press the SPACEBAR if you want to select the first item in the list view. Also you can use the arrow keys to move through the columns and rows of icons on the desktop. Press ENTER on one of these items to open it. Press TAB to move to the start button, and you will hear JAWS say, "Start Button." Press the JAWS key + num pad 8 or JAWS key + up arrow to read your current line at any time.
When you land on the start button while you are pressing the tab key, you will hear JAWS say, "Start Button." The start button is located in the bottom left corner of the screen, but it can be customized too. Now lets practice the following exercise:
Press windows key + M
Press the tab key until you hear JAWS say 'Start button' make sure the cursor is on start button by pressing JAWS key + num pad 8, which is the say or read line key. Press the enter key and you will hear JAWS say 'Search box edit' Press JAWS key + num pad 8 to verify where you are!
Press up and down arrows to learn what options you have
Press the enter key on "All programs"Always when you press the enter key on the program icon submenue, the first menu item you will hear is the item located at the top of the list.
Press the escape key many times until you hear the JAWS say 'Start button'
The taskbar has introduced by the Microsoft in Windows operating system in 1995. The feature of the taskbar has been a defining aspect of Microsoft Windows's graphical user interface and many other operating systems and personal computers' desktop. A taskbar is a bar displayed on a full edge of a graphic user interface (GUI) personal computers' desktop that is used to launch and monitor running applications.
The default settings for the taskbar in Windows is place it at the bottom of the screen and includes from left to right the Start menu button, Quick Launch bar, taskbar buttons, and notification area. The Quick Launch toolbar was added with the Windows Desktop Update and is not enabled by default in some operating systems. Windows 7 also does not have the Quick Launch feature by default; however, there is a way that the quick launch bar can be restored.
The toolbar is Graphical User Interface (GUI) widget on which on-screen buttons, icons, menus, or other input or output elements are located. We see the toolbar in many types of applications such as office suites, and web browsers. In short, the toolbar resembles a "ribbon". A ribbon is an element of graphical user interfaces and it is a set of toolbars placed on several tabs. Even though Windows 7 offers many improvements over previous operating systems such as XP and Vista, but the Quick Launch toolbar is not there. However, you can get it back by performing the following steps to enable the Quick Launch toolbar on Windows 7 and if you are JAWS user here are the steps for you:
Press windows key + m
Press the tab key; use JAWS read title key, (JAWS key + t.) or JAWS read line key, (JAWS + num pad8) to learn where you are.
When you hear JAWS say, Start button , press the application key. (located left from the right control key,) or press Shift+F10 for right click.
Press up or down arrow until you here JAWS say, "Property", then press the enter key; You are now in the "start button" tab. You can navigate by pressing the tab key.
Press CTRL + TAB, focus cycles over the taskbar, start button, and toolbar.
When you hear JAWS say, "taskbar", move by pressing the "tab" key; use JAWS read key, (JAWS key + num pad8) to read a line.
Uncheck to the (lock taskbar) option, then press the enter key on the ok button. This is where you customize the Taskbar, Toolbar, and Start button.
Press windows key + m then press the tab key until you hear JAWS say, Notification area."
Press the application key (right click), or SHIFT F10, then move by up and down arrows.
Press the enter key on toolbars submenu again move by up and down arrow until JAWS says, "new toolbar."
Press ENTER key on new toolbar.
When the New Toolbar - Choose a folder window appears, copy and paste the following path into the edit box or the location bar: %appdata%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
Note pressing shift + right arrow = highlight a character.
Pressing control + shift + right or left arrow keys = select or highlight a word.
Pressing shift + down arrow = select or highlight a line.
pressing control + a = select or highlight the intire document.
Pressing the home key = go to the beginning of line.
Pressing the end key = go to the end of line.
pressing shift + end key selects from the cursor point to the end of line.
Pressing shift + home key selects from cursor point to the beginning of line.
pressing control + v = paste copied text to your choice of place.
Once you pasted the above line in the edit box, press the enter key; again you can choose your own folder or press the enter key on ok to accept a default folder.
Quick Launch toolbar will now appear on the Windows 7 taskbar, but it will be on the right side of the screen next to the System Tray. You can change the quick toolbar location by customizing the taskbar. You can add and remove your favorite applications or shortcuts onto the new Quick Launch toolbar and "unpin" the default applications from the regular taskbar.
Once you finished adding things to the Quick Launch toolbar, "Lock the taskbar" (follow the step above to make uncheck to the "lock toolbar". You may enable "Use small icons" under the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties menu.
If you are screen enlargement user, follow these instructions:
Right click on an empty space on the Windows 7 taskbar and make sure "Lock the taskbar" is NOT checked. This will allow you to move the Quick Launch bar once we reactivate it.
Right click on an empty space on the Windows 7 taskbar and from the resulting Context Menu, click Toolbars and then New Toolbar.
When the New Toolbar - Choose a folder window appears, paste the following path into the location bar: %appdata%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
Once you are certain that the path shows AppData | Roaming | Microsoft | Internet Explorer | Quick Launch, click Select Folder. The Quick Launch toolbar will now appear on the Windows taskbar, but it will be on the right side of the screen next to the System Tray. Let us move it back to the left side where the toolbar should be.
Click on the left edge (dotted lines) of the new Quick Launch toolbar, and drag it over to the left as far as it will go.
To remove the text labels shown on the Quick Launch toolbar, right-click on the left edge of the toolbar (dotted lines) and from the resulting Context Menu, uncheck both "Show Text and "Show Title. At this point, the Quick Launch toolbar looks like it did in Windows XP and Vista, but it is still on the wrong side of the taskbar.
Click and drag the left edge of the regular Windows taskbar toolbar (dotted lines to the right of the Start button) to the left of the taskbar, over the new Quick Launch toolbar. This will move the main area of the taskbar to the right of your new Quick Launch bar and place the Quick Launch bar next to the Start button. Stop when both toolbars are the size you want.
You can now drag and drop your favorite applications or shortcuts onto the new Quick Launch toolbar and "unpin" the default applications from the regular taskbar.
Once you finished adding things to the Quick Launch toolbar, right-click a blank space on the taskbar and click "Lock the taskbar". You may also enable "Use small icons" under the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties menu. With the new Quick Launch toolbar in place, no applications "pinned" to the regular taskbar, small icons in use, and the taskbar locked, your Desktop is just the way you like it.
The system tray or the notification area is located at the right of the taskbar by default. In addition, the system tray contains program icons that provide status and notifications about things like printer, power, incoming e-mail, and network connectivity status. When you install software, you can add an icon for that program to the notification area. Furthermore, you can expand the notification area to view hidden icons. Computers sometime come with icons in the notification area. Dduring installation, some programs add an icon to the notification area. You can modify which icons and notifications appear in the notification area. Some system icons can be hidden or shown by disabling or enabling them in the taskbar options.
If you want remove or hide an icon from the notification area do the following steps: or To view hidden icons or To add a hidden icon to the notification area or If you want to show all icons on the taskbar:
Press windows key + m! All apps would be minimized and you would hear and JAWS say, desktop , or JAWS would say the first item in the desktop.
Press the tab key until you hear JAWS say, Start button . Do read window title to verify where you are, or do read line.
Press the application key, and move by up and down arrows. The application key is as same as the right click.
Press the enter key when you hear JAWS say, Property . The enter key is as same as double click.
Press the control key + tab until JAWS say, taskbar.
On the taskbar tab, press the tab key until JAWS say, customize . Then press the enter key.
Press the tab key once. Then use left and right arrows to make your selection.
Note? After each time you press the tab key, move by right or left arrows. You have three choices, they are show icon and notification, hide icon and notification, and only show notification; therefore, make the right choice for yourself!
After you have made the necessary changes, click the ok button until you exit to the desktop.
For people screen enlargement users: If you want remove or hide an icon from the notification area do the following instruction:
Click the icon in the notification area and then drag it toward the desktop to view hidden icons
Click the arrow next to the notification area. If the arrow is not there, you do not have any hidden icons.
To add a hidden icon to the notification area
Click the arrow next to the notification area, and then drag the icon you want to move to the notification area. You can drag as many hidden icons to the notification area as you want.
Do the following steps to show all icons on the taskbar:
Right-click an empty area on the taskbar, then click Properties.
Under Notification area, click Customize.
Select the Always show all icons and notifications on the taskbar to Select the Always show all icons and notifications on the task Unused icons in the notification area are usually hidden.
If you prefer to show all of the icons (even those that are not currently in use), follow these steps.
Open Taskbar and Start Menu Properties by clicking the Start button
Click Control Panel
Click Appearance and Personalization
Then click Taskbar and Start Menu.
Click the Notification Area tab.
Clear the Hide inactive icons check box, and then click OK. The notification area will no longer hide any icons.
